Posted on 10/14/2013 7:29:51 PM PDT by robowombat
That doesn’t look much different from machine shops that I worked in during the late 1960s as a teen.
In some cases the quality product is the one made in China. I have items that I don't care where they make them, I want that brand, that item, whether it is made in Switzerland, the US, Japan, or China, or Germany, I don't care where it is made if it is the quality item that I want.
Yes, most products are now of seriously lousy quality, particularly anything from Walmart.
It's depressing, but that's what our focus on lowest price/damn the quality versus acceptable price/acceptable quality has brought us. I blame this in no small part on Unions, but in the end the consumer is the one who bears the majority of the blame as they are getting exactly what they asked for, and people who prefer superior quality are left as an anachronism and looked upon as an oddity.
Another way to look at it is the more junk that has to be replaced, the more jobs are available for people, and in this mindset, the lowest labor cost will always win out.
That depends upon the product and has a direct relationship to labor costs.
Lower labor means a shoddy product can be produced in China which makes production not feasible in other locations, so there is no choice to be made, and the China version is the default product with the best quality as there is no competitor that can produce a superior quality product and stay in business.
Thanks for posting this.
Now you are getting silly, I told you that I have products and tools that I choose based on the quality of the brand and model and that a number of those are manufactured in China.
Well, things are more precise right now and so does car engines.
I don’t want one of these in my vehicle.
At the truck shop I worked at we got some cheap Chinese slack adjusters. They were real poor quality and just basically junk. I sent some back and told the salesman to send me genuine Bendix next time. I had to laugh when we got them because there was a “made in China” sticker on them. But they were a far superior product.
Not being silly at all. What alternatives were available that were not manufactured in China? There are even worse quality products made in other countries, and I have no doubt some can also be American in that regard, and the race to the lowest price is why.
I’ve noticed several common items over the last couple of decades decrease in quality due to the race to the lowest price, and almost all of them are now coming from China, when in the past higher quality items came from other sources including America.
My issue is, those higher quality items can no longer survive in the marketplace due to the price point being too high regardless of the fact that they had superior quality.
Although I am overruled in many of the kids purchases, I can still boycott disney in my mind :-)
>>>>That depends upon the product and has a direct relationship to labor costs.
Lower labor means a shoddy product can be produced in China which makes production not feasible in other locations, so there is no choice to be made, and the China version is the default product with the best quality as there is no competitor that can produce a superior quality product and stay in business.<<<<
Chinese are pretty capable to build quality products as well, for the price.
Your contractors are capable to learn your technology and open a shop next door, building “enhanced” version of your product too.
That’s my point, they can build a quality product but eliminate the competition with low labor costs. That won’t always be the case and has started to actually create a situation where their low labor costs are no longer the lowest.
Another point to this story was the fact that eventually corners will be cut and quality will suffer due to those Chinese who decide to squeeze more profits from their operations. It’s been obvious to anyone who has paid attention over the last 30 years, IMO. Of course, once higher quality competition has been eliminated, they have little to fear, and on the other hand, there are others who just don’t care about the quality in the first place and will simply purchase the lowest price product.
Flashlights are better than ever and most of the best are made in China, with brand names on them.
China also makes many cheap flashlights, but if you want quality in a 50 or 300 dollar flashlight, then chances are that it will be made in China.
People would be surprised at the brand names that they are loyal to, which manufacture in China, of course in some items like my A/C unit I read the reviews and chose a Chinese brand.
See post 28, his shop saw two different products from two different Chinese manufacturers, supposedly Bendix and Wagner are manufactured there, at least some of their goods.
I never said that the competition for the current best quality could not be solely from China, nor that China does not have the best current quality items for a given product. Brand names mean nothing as corporations are part of the lowest price problem and they will source them from those who will give them the best deal even if it means the quality is not as good as it could be. This is the basis of why so much of our manufacturing was moved offshore, primarily due to the lower cost of labor. That is not wishful thinking on my part, I believe that is a confirmed fact.
Before China started making the “best” available quality flashlights, where were they produced? Could a better one have come from elsewhere before they started being produced in China for much less?
I understand what you’re saying, but you’re not paying attention to what I’m trying to get across, IMO.
A brand name loses it’s name if it’s quality sinks, that happens and always has and the name sinks or dies even sometimes.
My favorite flashlights are made by a Chinese company that earned it’s chops by introducing better quality, better technology, and better prices to the American public starting around 2005 or so, I carry two of their flashlights everyday.
The A/C unit I chose was made by a Chinese company but it got the reviews that I was looking for in Consumer Reports.
I would have to dig and do a lot of research to make a large pile of these examples and I’m not that interested in the subject, but I buy based on value and quality, I will not and cannot subsidize inferior goods.
I’m a contractor, I have a standard that i seek in my tools and the things that matter to me.
A brand name does just fine if their shoddy quality has no competitors. I’m not saying your flashlight or A/C is shoddy, I’m saying that they have no competition from those who may be able to produce a superior quality product due to labor cost differential.
Do you understand that single concept?
I have piles of examples myself that I can go on and on about all day but what would be the point if you don’t understand the one single point I’m trying to get across?
I’m a consumer, and I have standards that can no longer be met by some products that only come from China currently as the superior products that used to be manufactured in the U.S. or Canada are no longer being produced in the U.S. or Canada due to the price differential. So, I’m forced to buy substandard quality products, from my point of view, even though the best quality available in the world currently comes from China.
I do understand what you are saying although I don't know why you keep calling the brand names that you choose to use "shoddy", it sounds like you need to switch some brands, that is why I gave examples of two products that America makes but that I wanted the Chinese company's product instead brands that are new to us.
In flashlights for instance, many American companies make flashlights and are famous for it (I have flashlights going back to the 1920s), Mag-lite and the top of the line Surefire are examples, and other names you would recognize. I prefer the advanced technology, quality, and value of my Fenix lights.
I consider both of the famous American companies mentioned rip offs and Maglites as relative junk, they had the flashlight world by the family jewels and they are too big to fail, but they now depend on old market control, old reputation, and on people who don't know better Maglite just fed on the profits making 1980s flashlights while technology kept moving forward into the 21st century which almost all American flashlight companies did.
When I bought my AC I deliberately chose the Chinese company version, rather than the brand that you bought (assuming you own American A/C).
China makes junk, and China makes good products, and China makes products to the standard insisted on by foreign owned companies, it is a mix.
What are the products that you find unusable today because China eliminated them being made anywhere else?
bflr
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